with a ball in my hands, thy grandfather, O Kesava, gave me away to his friend, the illustrious Kuntibhoja.  Abandoned, O chastiser of foes, by my own father, and my father-in law, and afflicted with insufferable woes, what use, O Madhava, is there in my being alive?  On the night of Savyasachin’s birth, in the lying-in-room, an invisible voice told me, ’This son of thine will conquer the whole world, and his fame will reach the very heavens.  Slaying the Kurus in a great battle and recovering the kingdom, thy son Dhanajaya will, with his brothers, perform three grand sacrifices.’  I do not doubt the truth of that announcement.  I bow unto Dharma that upholds the creation.  If Dharma be not a myth, then, O Krishna, thou wilt surely achieve all that the invisible voice said.  Neither the loss of my husband, O Madhava, nor loss of wealth, nor our hostility with the Kurus ever inflicted such rending pains on me as that separation from my children.  What peace can my heart know when I do not see before me that wielder of Gandiva, viz., Dhananjaya, that foremost of all bearers of arms?  I have not, for fourteen years, O Govinda, seen Yudhishthira, and Dhananjaya, and Vrikodara.  Men perform the obsequies of those that are missed for a long time, taking them for dead.  Practically, O Janardana, my children are all dead to me and I am dead to them.

’Say unto the virtuous king Yudhishthira, O Madhava, that-Thy virtue, O son, is daily decreasing.  Act thou, therefore, in such a way that thy religious merit may not diminish.  Fie to them that live, O Janardana, by dependence on others.  Even death is better than a livelihood gained by meanness.  Thou must also say unto Dhananjaya and the ever-ready Vrikodara that—­The time for that event is come in view of which a Kshatriya woman bringeth forth a son.  If you allow the time slip without your achieving anything, then, though at present ye are respected by all the world, ye will be only doing that which would be regarded as contemptible.  And if contempt touches you, I will abandon you for ever.  When the time cometh, even life, which is so dear, should be laid down, O foremost of men, thou must also say unto Madri’s sons that are always devoted to Kshatriya customs.—­More than life itself, strive ye to win objects of enjoyment, procurable by prowess, since objects won by prowess alone can please the heart of a person desirous of living according to Kshatriya customs.  Repairing thither, O mighty-armed one, say unto that foremost of all bearers of arms, Arjuna the heroic son of Pandu,—­Tread thou the path that may be pointed out to thee by Draupadi.  It is known to thee, O Kesava, that when inflamed with rage, Bhima and Arjuna, each like unto the universal Destroyer himself, can slay the very gods.  That was a great insult offered unto them, viz., that their wife Krishna, having been dragged into the assembly was addressed in such humiliating terms by Dussasana and Karna.  Duryodhana himself hath insulted Bhima